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MY WORK

The construction of my instruments is inspired by the work of the great Italian school of violin makers of the seventeenth century, Stradivarius, Guarnerius, Guadagnini, Bergonzi, etc. These great makers left a lasting legacy aesthetically and accoustically practically impossible to surpass and for me are a source of reference. Even so, I try to make good use of modern day knowledge as far as accoustics and materials are concerned. For this reason I like to experiment with substances which tend to favour the accoustic qualities of the wood and to emphasize their beauty. In this way I try to achieve a good refraction of light in the table and back of the instrument once varnished, something that the old Italian masters attained with such splendour. This implies a constant effort of investigation and is a great incentive for me. Each instrument is something new, individual, and although I will use all my previous knowledge in their construction, I try to leave room for some intuitive flashes.

I like to give special attention to the raw material, the wood. The way it is cut, the storage and its density are of prime importance and are fundamental factors in attaining an excellent concert instrument.

According to the choice of wood for the front and back of the instrument, I look for the correct thickness of wood through its tuning. Then I establish a relationship between their respective frecuencies, and lastly, with the sound box and the neck. When an instrument vibrates, all parts sound together, and every part must vibrate in harmony with the rest. I work in this way, and once everything has been assembled I still may take off a bit of wood here and there to harmonize the frequencies to the maximum. Thus we will attain an instrument easy to play and rich in harmonics which is what every musician looks for in a concert hall setting and the aim of the artisan as well. Of course it is not so easy to accomplish but it is a great challenge and forms the part of instrument making that I most enjoy. I also feel priviledged in this respect. As a musician I’ve spent my entire life so far in the pursuit of perfection in terms of sound and tuning and so for me it is something purely natural to be able to identify sounds and to judge their quality.

In the other hand it is fundamentally important to attain a good instrument setup and is definitely worthwhile dedicating the necessary time to this purpose. A mediocre instrument can be bettered by a good setup only to a certain degree, but a good instrument badly setup can be damaged forever. For example, an over tightly adjusted soundpost can derive in the deformation of the front plate and can cause also internal damage and deterioration. However, a well adjusted and positioned soundpost, together with a good bridge will optimize the sound possibilities of the instrument. I think it is a good idea to try several bridges for each instrument in order to understand its importance and how each one can change the sound of the instrument. Finding the reason of this is somewhat complicated, but in practise we find that there is always one bridge which sounds better than the rest. We must not underestimate the importance of this little piece of wood in its role in tranmitting the vibrations of the strings to the sound box resonating chamber. For this reason I always make at least three bridges, and in this way the musician can value which sound he likes best.

In reality the construction of an instrument is an arduous business but at the same time a passionate one. The first time that you play an instrument is a magical moment but also an uncertain one. If you’ve done everything correctly and the instrument works well, then this is ample reward and compensation for all the time and effort put into it.